Facial Synthesis and Bioevaluation of Well-Defined OEGylated Betulinic Acid-Cyclodextrin Conjugates for Inhibition of Influenza Infection.

Betulinic acid (BA) and its derivatives exhibit a variety of biological activities, especially their anti-HIV-1 activity, but generally have only modest inhibitory potency against influenza virus. The entry of influenza virus into host cells can be competitively inhibited by multivalent derivatives targeting hemagglutinin. In this study, a series of hexa-, hepta- and octavalent BA derivatives based on α-, ß- and γ-cyclodextrin scaffolds, respectively, with varying lengths of flexible oligo(ethylene glycol) linkers was designed and synthesized using a microwave-assisted copper-catalyzed 1,3-dipolar cycloaddition reaction. The generated BA-cyclodextrin conjugates were tested for their in vitro activity against influenza A/WSN/33 (H1N1) virus and cytotoxicity. Among the tested compounds, 58, 80 and 82 showed slight cytotoxicity to Madin-Darby canine kidney cells with viabilities ranging from 64 to 68% at a high concentration of 100 µM. Four conjugates 51 and 69-71 showed significant inhibitory effects on influenza infection with half maximal inhibitory concentration values of 5.20, 9.82, 7.48 and 7.59 µM, respectively. The structure-activity relationships of multivalent BA-cyclodextrin conjugates were discussed, highlighting that multivalent BA derivatives may be potential antiviral agents against influenza infection.

Synthesis of 5,19-(2,6-Dimethylpyridin-4-yl)-trisnorlupane and Oleanane.

Acetylation of the 3,4-seco-derivatives of betulin, allobetulin and 28-oxyallobetulone gave the 5,19-(2,6-dimethylpyridin-4-yl)-4,23,24,20,29,30-hexanorlupane, and 5-(2,6-dimethylpyridin-4-yl)-4,23,24-trisnor-derivatives of oleanane and ursane.

Synthesis of a Novel 1,2,4-Oxadiazole Diterpene from the Oxime of the Methyl Ester of 1ß,13-Epoxydihydroquinopimaric Acid.

Oximation of the dihydroquinopimaric acid O-cyanoethylderivative (2) via the amidoxime 3, and cyclization with trifluoroacetic anhydride resulted in a new 1,2,4-oxadiazole diterpenoid (4).

An efficient oxyfunctionalization of quinopimaric acid derivatives with ozone.

An access to oxyfunctionalized quinopimaric acid derivatives is reported. The ozonolysis of methyl dihydroquinopimarate occurs through 1,2-cycloaddition of ozone to the bridging double bond followed by intermolecular rearrangements and formation of nontrivial 4beta-hydroxy-4alpha,14alpha-epoxy-13(15)-ene derivative 2. The oxidation of methyl furfurilydene dihydroquinopimarate with ozone led to anhydride 5 and unexpected carboxymethyl substituted cyclopentane lactone 6. The structure of compound 6 was confirmed by X-Ray analysis of its methyl ester.